The Google Ad Tech antitrust case is over – and here’s what happens next

Just three weeks after it began, the Google ad tech antitrust trial in Virginia has come to an end.

(Arielle Garcia, you can go home now! Thank you for your service.)

The trial was expected to last four to six weeks, but Judge Leonie Brinkema, who presided over the case, ensured things moved quickly.

The court will now take a nearly two-month break before reconvening for closing arguments just before Thanksgiving.

It’s a poultice

On Friday, Google withdrew its defense, closing the case by entering two final witness statements into the record. The first message is from Ryan Pauley, president of revenue and growth at Vox Media, and the second is from Brian Bumpers, marketing analytics manager at e-commerce site Zulily.

The government dismissed one witness denying these reports, Matthew Wheatland, the chief digital officer of DailyMail.com. Denying witnesses are witnesses called by the plaintiff to rebut evidence presented by the defense after the defense has completed its action.

Click here to see what Pauley, Bumpers and Wheatland had to say on Check My Ads’ coverage of the case.

What now?

Now that both sides have finished presenting their arguments, the decision rests with Judge Brinkema.

But a lot has to happen before he starts ruling.

First, both sides have until Monday, November 4, to submit amended findings of fact – a legal document setting out the relevant facts in the case. Each party can write one. Both Google and the Department of Justice submitted proposed findings of fact weeks before the trial began.

Judge Brinkema will have three weeks to review the documents and, if time permits, prepare a preliminary draft opinion.

And then it was time for everyone to return to the courthouse: closing arguments are scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday, November 25.

Both sides will apparently gain more than the 30 minutes they were allotted to make opening statements earlier this month. The judge will also have the opportunity to ask questions during closing arguments.

Once this is over, it’s possible we’ll get a ruling from Judge Brinkem early next year. And if it deems it favorable to the Justice Department, it’s time to make a decision on the sentence, which will be determined at the next hearing.

Long distance

But Google will undoubtedly appeal if it loses – and the same applies to any ruling not in its favor.

Google, for example, plans to appeal after losing a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit earlier this year. The judge in the case, Justice Amit Mehta, found that Google had a monopoly in two markets: general online searches and text search advertising.

A second hearing to determine remedies for the search is scheduled for April, and Judge Mehta has indicated that he intends to set penalties by August 2025.

Meanwhile, Google believes it has mounted a solid defense in its ad tech case, including arguments that it has no obligation to cooperate with its competitors and that “open Internet display advertising” is a distorted market definition that the Justice Department came up with to support its case.

In a blog post Friday summarizing Google’s defense, Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, argues that ad tech has been, is and remains an extremely competitive business and that “headline bidding is alive and well.” (Despite Google’s best efforts, the Justice Department may argue).

“The reality is that many digital ads are not sold on ad exchanges, and most publishers do not use Google Ad Manager,” Mulholland wrote. “Direct listings, in which ad buyers and sellers bypass the exchange entirely, account for 70% of all digital ad spending.”

Well, that’s up to Judge Brinkem. Regardless of the outcome of this case, Google will remain in the hot seat in the antitrust field.

Google faces a similar set of allegations of abuse of market power in the digital advertising market in a separate antitrust case brought by a group of state attorneys general led by Texas.

This hearing is scheduled to take place early next year.